The Beer Nut: After an Epic (Brewing Co.) beer

Like many stateside beer fans, I discovered New Zealand's Epic Brewing Company through the "Brew Masters" television show.

Norman Miller

Like many stateside beer fans, I discovered New Zealand's Epic Brewing Company through the "Brew Masters" television show.

On an episode featuring Dogfish Head owner Sam Calagione, he and brewers from Epic worked together to brew a beer for the Brewers Guild of New Zealand awards competition.

The beer turned out to be Portamarillo, a smoked porter made with tamarillos, an edible fruit native to the Andes of South America that's also called a "tree tomato."

"The theme (of the contest) was, 'Let's Go Native,' so you had to use a native ingredient in the beer," said Epic founder Luke Nicholas. "Sam asked what fruit we could use. Only fruits available at the time of year we proposed brewing was either kiwi or tamarillos. Tamarillos aren't native to (New Zealand) so we had to come up with a native ingredient. Sam suggested we smoke it with a (New Zealand) wood, so I picked Pohutakawa as it was a sacred tree."

Portamarillo became a somewhat sought-after beer after the show, and when it showed up in a couple of stores near me for the first time recently, it sold out quickly.

Thankfully, Epic is not a one-trick pony. The brewery has other great beers, all seemingly brewed with inspiration from the United States. As a matter of fact, Nicholas said his inspiration comes from the West Coast of the U.S.

While living in the U.S. in the mid-'90s, he tasted some beers from West Coast breweries and became a homebrewer.

He became a professional brewer in 1997 at the Steam Brewing Company in New Zealand, which was the brewing partner with the Cock & Bull English Pub chain and worked there until 2007.

"Part of growing the business and making it profitable was creating a new beer brand that was different than the pub brand," said Nicholas. "Ultimately, the owners wanted to invest in pubs and not a bottled beer brand, and I ended up buying it off them, with the conditions that I could continue to brew in their brewery and they continue to buy my beer."

Along with the Portamarillo, Epic has four other beers available in the United States - the Pale Ale, Lager, Mayhem and Armageddon.

The Pale Ale is described as being an American-style pale ale (meaning very hoppy), brewed with 100 percent Cascade hops, with 5.4 percent alcohol by volume (ABV).

The Mayhem is an American strong pale ale, and comes in at 6.2 percent ABV, and it shows its West Coast influences with how hoppy it is.

The label gives a great description: "This isn't your ordinary beer de jour. It is so packed with hop-fueled flavor and aroma that it will invigorate even the hardest hop head."

My two favorite Epic beers are the Lager and the Armageddon.

The Lager is 5 percent ABV and brewed with Santiam and Liberty hops. Like Epic's other beers, the Lager is pleasantly hoppy, with a slight bitterness with citrusy flavors and floral aromas. It's a joy to drink.

The Armageddon IPA is a hoppy slap-in-the-face kind of beer. No hiding the hops in this beer. It comes it at 6.66 percent ABV, and although it's not the most balanced beer, it's a hop head's dream.

Currently, Epic is only available in bottles in the United States, but Nicholas said he is working to try to export kegs of his beers here.

Nicholas said the New Zealand brewing scene is growing, and they're happy to be part of it.

"It's very active, growing fast, lots of influence from West Coast U.S. breweries, including some imports from Green Flash, Alpine, Rogue, etc.," said Nicholas. "Epic has been a leader in the massive hop-driven beers, with the Pale Ale launching in 2006."

Norman Miller is a Daily News staff writer. For questions, comments, suggestions or recommendations, email nmiller@wickedlocal.com or call 508-626-3823. Check out The Beer Nut blog at http://blogs.wickedlocal.com/beernut/ or follow the Beer Nut at his Twitter page at www.twitter.com/realbeernut.